égoïste

raison #25

Thankfully they won that without Bokuto going all emo.

Shiori had left her seat to go get a snack from a nearby convenience store, coming back quickly. She noted that Itachiyama and Nekoma were currently against each other, and Fukurodani was taking a break on the sidelines.

Itachiyama is one of the powerhouse schools with one of the best aces of the nation alongside Kiryu and Ushi-chan. Nekoma is also a powerhouse, but the problem lies with if they can go against them well enough to win without a trump card.

Shiori opened the wrapper for the first onigiri, taking a bite.

There he is—Sakusa, the germaphobe. It's my first time seeing him in person…I think. And that libero…he's really good. No wonder he got the title of best libero. He might even get the award after play off to Nationals.

She tore her brown eyes away from the Nekoma match to look towards Fukurodani's direction.

I'll talk to them afterwards, I'm just going to—

"HEY, HEY, HEY! SHIORI! I didn't know you were coming!"

Speak of the devil—

"Ack!" The girl nearly fell when Bokuto threw an arm around her shoulders from behind with a loud thump, cheering when he dragged her over to the team with a joyful smile.

"GUYS! Shiori's come to visit us!" The enthusiastic ace let go of her, placing his hands on his hips.

"I didn't know you were coming!" Yukie and Kaori grinned at her.

"I was keeping it surprise..." The girl sighed and greeted the players, coaches and managers, who were all surprised (sans Akaashi).

"Good luck with your next game play!" She put her hand in front of her, her palm flat and facing the ground. "You'll be facing off with the team that kept stuffing your ace! Mow them down!"

Bokuto was the first to put his hand on top of hers, almost slapping it down in excitement. "YEAH!"

The rest of the team followed suit, and they cheered for the next game to come.

"Go hydrate yourselves and eat something to get your energy up." Yukie instructed, taking hold of the drink bottle bag. She handed one to Bokuto who didn't have it yet.

"I'm going to go watch Itachiyama and Nekoma's game." Shiori gave Yukie a light wave and went off to go watch the playing team.

Oh, that's as strong as Ushi-chan, Shiori had just come at a time when Sakusa had smashed down a strong quick, allowing for the ball to fly all the way up to where she was. She caught the ball easily, not too surprised, and threw it back down.

She was used to seeing such strong hits from Bokuto and Ushi-chan.

I guess this is why Itachiyama is Fukurodani's eternal rival for the top spot, Shiori mused, and they've both got very strong players. Well, in Fukurodani's case it can fluctuate depending on Bokuto's moods. Sometimes he can rival the top 3 when he's in good condition, and if not, then, well…yeah.

"Sakusa-san is very strong, isn't he?" Akaashi came up to the observing 3rd year, holding two onigiri in his hand as his snack.

Shiori glanced at him quickly before looking back to the game. "He is. He's as strong as Ushi-chan." The moment she said her nickname for Ushijima, she corrected herself, because Akaashi wouldn't know who she was talking about. "Sorry, I mean Ushijima."

Ushi-chan? The setter questioned. Is she on close terms to the ace of Shiratorizawa?

"Well, he is one of the three top aces in the nation." Akaashi gave it a thought; Shiori was from Miyagi, and Kitagawa Daiichi. If he remembered correctly, she had said she'd go over to watch the boy's matches because the girls' ones finished too quickly back in middle school.

Ah, that must be where she was able to meet Ushijima. I'm surprised she befriended him.

He paused for a moment, didn't she show me messages between her and MiracleBoy about Ushijima having their selfie as a phone background?

He had been so busy lately that he nearly forgot. He wanted to sigh to himself. There was no use getting worried about her; it was rather obvious that she wasn't going to be interested in another in a romantic way, for now anyway.

"Ah, Sakusa's serving." Shiori mumbled under her breath. She watched him closely, seeing his form, the power and the accuracy.

Decent, she mentally commented, taking the final bite of her onigiri.

She must be analysing them again, Akaashi guessed.

Nekoma's doing pretty well against them for now, but I think it might get a little hard here on out. Sakusa's the ace so he might be a late starter. Maybe his engines haven't been warmed up yet but, back when I caught the ball it wasn't nearly as strong as Ushi-chan's when I saw it last year, the volleyball player leaned against the railing, Nekoma specialises in defence, but Itachiyama's a powerhouse of spears and arrows, if I had to put it that way. If I had to say at the rate things are going now, Itachiyama will probably win 2-0.

Akaashi wondered just how much she was thinking when she was watching or in game. Of course, he'd experienced her being in game first hand, but he had never asked what she thought when she was, or when she was watching. There was the time with Nekoma and Fukurodani's practice match where she analysed the red team's plays, but he guessed that was just the gist of it.

If she were a setter or coach that would be terrifying, he concluded.

"She's... she looks like she's glaring at you, Sakusa." Komori sweat dropped when he drank some water on the sidelines. They were having some time to take a brief rest before the second set commenced.

Sakusa gave the libero a funny look, then looked up to follow where he looked. He stared at her for a while, brows knitting together just slightly.

"What are you glaring at her for?" Komori laughed.

Sakusa saw that she was talking to Fukurodani's Akaashi, making small talk while she waited for the next set to begin.

"Don't we know her?" The ace ended up saying. "I've seen her before."

"You have?" The slightly shorter male looked up again and studied the girl, before his lips parted and his eyes widened in surprise. "Why is a hot shot here?!"

"What?"

"Don't you recognise her? She was featured in the recent monthly volleyball magazine." The libero said incredulously.

"You mean the one that you searched up pictures after learning right away that she was playing volleyball again?" Sakusa said after a thoughtful moment.

Komori sweated, "Yeah, that one."

"No wonder I saw her before."

"No, no, you might have seen her in games or something. Remember that video that the coach showed us when telling us to improve our serves?"

"…is that her?"

"Yeah, I think so. Those forums were right!"

"Are you a stalker?"

"Don't be such a downer! And no, I'm not! I just wanted to know whether the rumours were true."

"Second set, let's start! Get to the court, boys." The coach clapped his hands a couple of times, and the libero and ace were forced to shorten their conversation.

"So in the end Itachiyama won." Shiori pushed herself off the rails and stretched lightly.

"Yeah." Akaashi nodded. He glanced to where his team were. They were finishing up with their food and were getting ready to go down to the court. "Our game is soon so I'll have to go."

"Yeah, okay. I'll be watching you guys from up here." Shiori grinned and patted his back. "Go get them!"

Akaashi smiled small, "Yeah." He went back to where the others were.

"Ohoho? What was that just now?" Yukie had that suspiciously sly critter like smile on her face.

"That was cute." Kaori was the next one to tease him.

"Oya? Very cute." Kuroo was after Kaori with a teasing sly smirk.

"How did you even get up here that fast, Kuroo-san?" Akaashi sighed. They were doing this just to tease him.

"Don't worry about that, just worry about how you guys are going to beat that team that kept stuffing Bokuto." Kuroo's expression had turned serious. He was bummed out that they lost against Itachiyama, but they were going to watch Fukurodani's match.

"…yeah," The setter nodded.

So far, so good, Shiori was eating the second half of her snacks she had bought earlier. It was mid game for the first set, and things were getting a little heated.

Meaning, the teams were already all warmed up and they were ready for a real fight.

They're starting to block Kou more. When will he be able to hit right past them? With that new straight of his?

"Bokuto-san!" Akaashi set the ball for the ace, who was going to hit a cross. The blockers from the opposing team jumped up, blocking the ball, killing it.

Their team cheered and high fived each other while Bokuto ground his molars and brooded.

"Don't mind." Konoha said to the ace.

"I'll get it next time." Bokuto promised.

He got blocked this time…I'm not surprised. The other team knew he was going to do a cross spike, so they adjusted to him at the last second. Is it because Bo's been hitting crosses the whole time, so they assumed he'd hit it again this time?

Shiori tapped her fingers against the metal railing.

It was the opposing side's turn to serve. As they served, Shiori made a mental note that it definitely wasn't their strong point.

Komi dug the ball up straight to Akaashi, who did a set up for Bokuto. Just like in the previous play, the blockers from the other team jumped up to kill the cross.

Bokuto hit a straight, one so straight that it zoomed right past those same blockers, hitting the area just before the line. It was in.

There was a moment of silence before Fukurodani cheered loudly for their ace.

Shiori's lips parted as she stared at the area that the ball hit, and then to the celebrating team on her side of the court. Their expressions were ones of a mixture of amazement, happiness, relief, excitement and most of all, success.

Her teeth clenched together when she felt an uncomfortable throb in her throat and chest, but she forced herself to smile and clap for the ace.

Yeah. That was what I came for.

"HEY, HEY, HEY! SHIORI! DID YOU SEE ME?! DID YOU SEE ME?!" Bokuto threw up his arms towards the bleachers, where Shiori was standing watching.

She laughed lightly and waved at him.

Fukurodani had won the game against the team that used to keep stuffing Bokuto. He was so happy, that Shiori felt bad that she felt the way she did now.

"You were awesome out there!" Shiori exclaimed.

She tried to put as much impact in her words, and she sounded convincing even to herself, so she hoped it did for everyone else.

"YEAH!"

"Bokuto, stretch!" Yukie handed the ace a water bottle.

"Thanks!" The ace was just as enthusiastic about getting water as he was about everything else at the current stage of his life.

It's good he's so happy. I can't let myself think shit for any reason, Shiori wanted to sigh to herself.

She went down the bleachers and to the courts, where she went to go talk to Yukie.

"Yuki, I'm going to go first, then. I have a few things I need to do." Shiori said almost apologetically.

"Okay. Good luck with those things." The manager smiled up at Shiori.

Akaashi glanced up at the girl. He was sure that something was off, but he didn't know what. She was a natural at acting natural, so it was a little harder with her.

"Thanks. I'll see you guys at your game tomorrow, then." Shiori waved bye and left, saying her respective byes to the team in general.

"Did something happen with Shiori? She sprinted the moment she got out of the place." Kuroo walked in after coming back from the bathroom.

"Sprinted?" Konoha questioned, taking it right out of Akaashi's mouth.

"Maybe she really wanted to go home?" Bokuto wondered. "Is she on dinner duty today?"

"It's too early to be making dinner, Bokuto-san." Akaashi checked the clock. It was just past 2pm.

"She said she had things to do so let's just leave it at that." Yukie took back the drink bottles from the boys.

"Yeah, okay." Bokuto was quick to go get some food.

I'll contact her later, then, Akaashi thought, finishing his stretches.

What the hell.

Shiori did a run, then jumped up, spiking the ball that she threw up herself. It was in a bit of an awkward position, but she couldn't exactly complain about the current situation.

That spike.

The ball hit the ground with a loud sound. She had caused others to turn heads when she did, but she didn't care.

That success.

She took another ball and threw it up as high as she could, then smashed it down like she would when she served. The ball painted the line, faster, stronger, but she felt nothing.

That cheer.

She grabbed another ball, ready to throw it up.

"Shiori-chan, you might injure yourself if you don't warm up properly." Michiko, the Pillows' team setter came up to her, having come to pick up some documents from the front desk, but came to check out who was playing.

"Michiko-san…" Shiori's concentration was broken when the older female had tapped her arm. "I'll be fine."

"Really? You seem a bit angry." Michiko brushed off the younger girl's bluff, not buying it.

"Eh…fine, just a little bit." Shiori sighed, twirling the ball in her hands.

"Just a little?" Michiko raised a brow and sighed gently after staring at her for a long moment.

"Yeah." Shiori stared at the ball, "I'm probably just getting stressed from entrance exams coming up soon…"

Not quite a lie, but a concealed truth.

"Don't get too stressed out, then, Shiori-chan. The balls are going to break if you hit them so hard." She laughed lightly and patted the girl's shoulder endearingly, like a mother would, and waved. "I'll see you soon."

"I'll see you soon." Shiori matched her wave. When she went out of sight, she gently massaged her shoulder and neck muscles, getting ready to do another spike serve.

A little bit angry is an underestimate.

She went to the end of the court and twisted the ball, throwing it up high. Then, she did yet another run up and smashed it down, hitting it just on the corner of the other side of the court.

No, rather than angry…

Shiori took another ball from the basket, bouncing it like a basketball before going back to where she would serve again.

And, she served.

I'm frustrated.

Keiji: Are you coming for tomorrow's games, Shiori-san?

Shiori stared at the text from the setter. She didn't do anything in response and just sat there, going through the worksheets and revision she still needed to do.

She turned the phone face down and continued to do her work, not wanting to have any disruptions.

15 minutes passed as she tried to do the question at hand, but weighing at the back of her mind was the guilt of not replying to anyone as soon as she got the message.

Urgh, I shouldn't take out my frustration on something as petty as this.

She turned the phone over and saw that the screen had just lighted up for another message. Her brows rose just slightly, her expression difficult.

What a dumbass I am.

Keiji: I'm sorry if we did something to anger you.

Akaashi, why are you like this?

It almost seemed out of character for the younger teen to say something like that, but he wasn't insensitive when it came to people's emotions. So of course he would pick up on her mood after he deciphered the puzzle as to why.

He also knew that she would always almost reply straight away, so 15 minutes delay was usually something quite rare unless he'd messaged her during a busy time.

You're not at fault here, Akaashi.

Shiori: No way! You guys did nothing to anger me. It's all me. And yes, I'll be coming tomorrow, too. I need to see you guys make nationals!

When she sent the message, she was almost relieved.

He's sharp when it comes to other people.

Keiji: That's a relief. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.

Shiori: You too. Rest up well for tomorrow's games!

Then she put the phone face down and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples.

I need to calm down. I can't get stupidly angry over something as trivial as this.

"Ricchan, did you buy back the cream puffs like I asked? The freshly baked ones?" Arata questioned, popping into the girl's room without knocking.

He paused when he saw her on the floor, playing on her phone while eating said cream puffs.

"Ah." She said, shoving the last one in her mouth. She quickly chewed it, sending him a cheeky smile. "Sorry, I just ate the last one."

"YOU LITTLE—!"

"RELAX I'LL GET SOME BACK TOMORROW I PROMISE—!"

"How many did you even eat, you fat ass?" Arata rolled his eyes and took the empty box of cream puffs from the floor, careful to make sure no crumbs came out.

I got 12, but I think I should say 4 so it doesn't sound as bad…Shiori sweated.

She licked her lips and got a tissue to wipe her mouth and hands. "Well, I got back 4—"

"Stop lying." Cue karate chop to the head.

"Ouch! Okay, fine, I got 12—"

"How could you eat them all?!"

"They just flew into my mouth!"

"You know you're lying, you little glutton!" Arata wrestled with her on the floor, giving her a noogie.

"STOP IT! THAT HURTS?!"

"That's for eating all the cream puffs!"

"I said I'd get you back some tomorrow!"

"You better be."

"Chill out, I will!"

The next day, Shiori went to the gymnasium to watch Fukurodani play their deciding matches.

I guess it makes sense that the teams are layered out like this considering how big Tokyo is…

It was the first time she had seen the sheets where it showed which team was battling which team. She located Fukurodani and looked in their bracket, seeing that they didn't need to go up against powerhouses like Itachiyama on their 3rd day.

They'll get through today with no worries, except Bokuto's possible emo mode.

She took a look at where Nekoma was, and they were situated in a bracket with Itachiyama.

Nekoma isn't all that lucky this time, I guess…

As expected from a champion school that's been a powerhouse for the past few decades, they're definitely going to advance towards nationals.

Speaking of nationals, Shiratorizawa will be there, won't they? I wonder if I'll see Ushi-chan.

The Maebara took a quick look at other brackets, noticing that Itachiyama and Fukurodani wouldn't go up against each other until when they'd get into nationals.

Isn't that a good thing? If they went up against them there's no knowing whether or not they'd win or lose. It's a huge gamble when fighting against that school. I guess it really is a lot better that they proceed to nationals without fighting another powerhouse.

Then again, isn't nationals just powerhouse schools? She wanted to laugh at her ironic thought.

"Shiori-san, good morning." Akaashi greeted. He had spotted her while the team was walking inside.

"Oh, Keiji, good morning." The girl greeted with a smile, turning to face him. "Are you ready for today's matches?"

"Mm. I think the others are in good condition today, too." The setter responded.

"Shiori! You're early!" Konoha sped walked up to the setter, "We don't start games yet till a little later so chill with us, won't you?" He was grinning.

"I'd be forced to do that even if you hadn't told me." She laughed.

"Oh yeah, Bokuto'd make you stay with us!" The wing spiker laughed and then waved at her, patting Akaashi on the back after, "We're going to get ready, so wait for us up in the bleachers!"

"Yup, alright." She smiled as they left.

She headed up to the bleachers and looked down at the several courts. None had started playing yet as it was too early, but they were all warming up.

Maybe I really did come too early?